DESIGN FOR THE EXPERIENCED USER

Photography by Pari syal; credit to Toshiyuki Yano; courtesy of design studio located in an airhouse In many cases, all that is required to revel in the special warmth of the room is a simple exercise in interior design… bread is baked and sold at a shop in Gifu City, Japan, which has a total floor size of 46.37 square meters. the shop is responsible for meeting a fundamental need. A very experiential design has been developed by keiichi kiriyama from the airhouse design office. In this design, the entire process of kneading the flour, baking it, seasoning it, packaging and presenting it, down to the last detail of selling it, and finally the unavoidable activity of bookkeeping, are all woven into an aesthetic narrative. This works on the psychology of the shop prisoners, enhancing their work aesthetic and resulting in a stronger feeling of job satisfaction. While this makes the straightforward process of baking and selling bread an exciting feature for the visiting clients, it also works on the psyche of the store inmates. Giving equal importance to both – the kitchen and the sale counter, keiichi has divided the store via a large swooping table-like platform, which takes on the mantle of an all-purpose fit-out: a display space, a checkout counter, or a working space to cut bread and knead dough. The store is appropriately named “bread table” (put the gif here). The tabletop is made out of structural plywood, and the sides of the platform are completed in transparent polycarbonate corrugated sheets. This design successfully highlights the presence of the table while simultaneously blurring the borders between different spaces. This contributes to the overall improvement of the store’s look. The layout of this store, which has a limited number of employees, enables the owner to constantly be aware of the current state of the business and enables various measures to be taken based on the quantity of bread that is made. As a consequence of this, the table generates an open environment, encourages communication between the customers and bakers, dynamically displays the process from the time the bread is baked until the time it is sold, and generates a rich retail space that is enjoyable for working in as well as shopping in. Please visit globalhop.indiaartndesign.com in order to see the photographs.